Saving Memories
by Heath07
Summary: Summer and Seth have spent a lifetime falling in love. -Edited.


Title: Saving Memories

Author: Heath07

Rating: PG -romance

Summary: Summer and Seth have spent a lifetime falling in love.

Feedback: Yes, please. I'm very nervous about this one. I hope this isn't confusing. 

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or anything affiliated with Fox's The O.C. or The Notebook. 

Notes: This is not my normal style and I haven't been writing Seth/Summer stories because I was satisfied with the show for the most part, but this just came to me after watching previews for The Notebook several times and even though I promised myself not to write any more O.C. fics for a while, I just couldn't help it. 

***Edited-The Notebook is a movie (based on a book) coming out in June starring Ryan Gosling. HOTTERTHNU -Thanks for pointing out that slip, I re-read it and caught quite a few other mistakes as well, guess that serves me right for not proofreading. :-( ***

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It was early June 2014, the sun was fading over the ocean, making the water sparkle like molten lava. The ceremony had been nice, the rain delay was worrisome but everyone assured him it was good luck. His bride wore a white dress and even though they had been together before, she had been his only lover and he was hers.   
  


He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, smelling jasmine in her hair. The sun sunk deeper and he closed his eyes for a moment, the heat felt nice on the back of his eyelids. Leaning down, he kissed her exposed shoulder.   
  


She exhaled, took in another breath deep from her chest. She turned in his arms, wrapped her tiny hands together behind his neck.   
  


"What are you thinking?" she asked. Her voice quiet against the beat of his heart.  
  


He laughed a little, placing his hand on her cheek and smoothed his thumb along her jaw, tilting her head up. Kissing her was always one of the best things of any day. He kissed her deeply and thoroughly until they forgot they had guests or that anyone else was around and then he pulled back and rested his chin on her forehead.  
  


After a minute of silence. "You didn't answer."  
  


"What was the question?" he asked, teasing.  
  


"Cohen!" she admonished, pulling back to look at him.   
  


Seth's smile was mischievous, his eyes darkening. "I was thinking how much all of this is costing me."  
  


She slapped his chest, a reflex. "Cohen! Seriously."   
  


"Seriously, I was. I mean, look at all these people and they're serving lobster, that's expensive. And I can't believe you got the crab and brie phyllo and mushroom, leek crescents, you know I have nightmares about these functions; you'd think for our wedding, we could have at least thought of something more original."  
  


Summer pouted. "Coh-en!" The corner of her mouth twitched and she tried to deny the smile that finally took shape on her lips. He looked deep into her eyes. He fell in love again.  
  


Seth pulled her close, wrapped his arms tighter around her and buried his face in her neck. They heard the noise of the party grow and, briefly, he wondered if they could run down the beach without being noticed and find one of the coves hidden from view and just make love until they couldn't move anymore.   
  


Summer's hands were on his back, rubbing circles that made him tingle. "What are you thinking?" she asked again, arching her neck when she felt his lips searching.   
  


Raising his head, he met her eyes, loved the way her skin was coloured pink from arousal and the way she smiled, almost shyly. "I'm just saving this memory," he answered, bending slightly to kiss her again. Seth saved memories the way most people save pictures, only everything was in his head and he dredged them up often, the ugly ones and the pretty ones just the same.   
  


Summer didn't call it cheesy; she understood now, she had started saving memories too.  
  


This one they would remember often.

_____________________________

In the tens years apart he had searched for love, searched everywhere his boat would take him and each time the wind would change and send him back to Newport and one day, late in September, she had been waiting. 

He had to shield his eyes from the sun; it poured around her, making her glow like an angel. He tied the boat to the dock, his eyes darting between his hands and her in case she might vanish. He still thought she might have been a mirage, a result of sunstroke, but when he took a few unsteady steps to where she stood, suitcase by her feet, he knew it was real.  
  


"Summer?" he whispered, squinting against the harsh light.  
  


"Cohen," she answered, smiling so softly it broke his heart and flash after flash of memories played in his head like a slide show.   
  
_Memory: Grade school: outside, behind the tall palm tree on the South Corner of school. First time he fell in love. A gray squirrel eats bread as Summer feeds her sandwich to it and breaks off a bite for herself.   
  
  
  
Memory: Recess: the playground. His notebook torn, his drawings scattered across the grass. Laughter, directed at him. Summer's eyes a little bit sad.  
  
  
  
Memory: Highschool: cafeteria. His tray spills, milk dripping off the side, splashing onto his shoes. Mocking and pointing. Summer turns her head and pretends not to notice him.   
  
  
  
Memory: His house: by the pool. His first kiss. Summer's eyes just a bit hazy, her cheeks slightly flushed, her lips pink. She's smiling at him. Second time falling in love with her.  
  
  
  
Memory: Valentine's day: his bedroom. First time making love. They dance, then she takes his hand and leads him to his bed, they sit and slowly she pulls his jacket off his shoulders and unbuttons his shirt. She kisses him softly and smiles. Third time falling in love with her.  
  
  
  
Memory: Christmas: Summer's house, under the mistletoe. He gives her his gift. A ring, a promise. She smiles and he falls in love for the fourth time.  
  
  
  
Memory: Graduation: auditorium. Summer's crying, not happy tears. She can't stay in Newport, she has to be her own person. She's not smiling. First time his heart breaks._  
  
  


The water was rough, the clouds were getting big and looked pregnant with rain. She teetered as the dock swayed and he took her elbow in his hand to steady her. Their eyes locked and her mouth parted just a little.  
  


"What're you doing here?" There was no malice, not yet.  
  


She looked lost for a minute and bit her lip, her weight shifting. "I heard you were living here again and I... Paris isn't as fun as I thought it would be and they have, like, serious attitudes. Ew!"  
  


He smiled gently, his dimples just hinted at. His thumb ran over the delicate spot in the crux where her arm folded. He felt her shiver. "Paris? The last I heard, it was Italy. Guess even those Italians aren't exciting enough for you. What was wrong with Italy, too much art, too much culture?"  
  


She shrugged, her face turning a delicate pink. He knew he'd hurt her and wanted to apologize, but couldn't find the words. He hadn't meant to be so harsh but it had shocked him. They had been so in love, so connected, and then one day she just decided she had to leave and find herself. Seth knew it had something to do with her Mother and the fear she had of committing and then breaking his heart; she didn't want to be that kind of person and she thought she was saving him.   
  


Summer sighed, looked out at the choppy water. "Italy, before that London, Germany, China...the list goes on and on."  
  


"You were doing what you wanted, weren't you? I hope you found what you were looking for," he said, dropping her arm. He started to walk to the house but her words stopped him.  
  


"I heard about your father."  
  


He turned, slowly. "Marissa told you?"  
  


She nodded, picked up her bag and took the few steps to him. "How is he?"  
  


Seth shrugged, kept his line of vision over her head. "Doctor says he'll make it, but... Mom's worried just the same. I don't get it, he takes such good care of himself. He still surfs everyday, eats right, how the hell could he have had a heart attack?" He realized he sounded angry and he was and he wasn't sure at who. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't..." he trailed off, clearing his throat, finally meeting her eyes.   
  


He was surprised to find tears there and was thrown off when she dropped her suitcase and pressed her body against his. "Oh, Cohen... I'm sorry I wasn't here for you."  
  


Seth returned the hug, his hand sliding down her back, feeling the heat from the sun and her skin and the tension began to ease from his body and slowly melt away.   
  


"I'm here now," she whispered, so close to his ear he could feel her breath tickling.   
  


"Oh, God, Summer," he said and held her tighter. The clouds opened up and the rain began to fall but they didn't move. Fat drops rained down on them, soaking them to the bone. It was a nice summer storm where the sun still shined and the rain was hot on their skin.  
  


Inside Seth's house, they dried off and Summer put on an old novelty T-shirt and a pair of comfortable pants, rolled over three times at the bottom and once at the top, Seth lent her when she realized her suitcase was wet through.   
  


Seth came into the living room, changed, holding a mug of green tea and handed it to Summer. He sat down in a lounge chair and moved his hand through his damp, unruly curls. "So...tell me about your life...what are you...why are you here? I mean, how long are you staying?"  
  


Summer swallowed her mouthful of tea and looked at him. "I'm not going back to Europe or to Asia or anywhere else, I'm staying here. Permanently."  
  


He rubbed at the corner of his eye, feeling weighed down by the rain that still clung, dry, to his skin and by his emotions that were jumbled and confused. He had joy from seeing Summer again and pain from his father's condition; joy that his father would be okay and pain that Summer would leave again. "Here, in Newport?"  
  


Summer smiled, warmly, the shy little smile she got when she used to tell him she loved him. He tried to fight the rolling in his stomach, the familiar ache in his heart. Her smile got wider, bigger. And damn him, he fell in love again.   
  


Summer stood, placed her mug on the coffee table and walked over to him. She was in front of him when he looked up and her eyes were glassy, black as stones but still bright. She took his hand. "No, here," she said, motioning around her, "with you."  
  


He wasn't sure she was serious at first until she pulled her lip between her teeth and cocked her head to the side, the same as she had done ten years before when she told him the first time she loved him; she was nervous, anxious. "I...I spent a lot of time trying new things, trying to be a different person...trying to forget you." She looked away quickly and then regained her composure. "I even-I looked for my Mom a coupla times, but...nothing. I realized, somewhere along the way, that I wasn't looking for anything... I was running."  
  


Seth was staring at her, staring so intently she felt completely exposed. After a minute had passed and he hadn't looked away, she pushed the hair out of her face and asked, "What are you doing?"  
  


He surprised her by pulling her gently into his lap and holding her face in his large hands. "I'm making a memory," he answered, his voice low and just a bit raspy.  
  


"What?" Her cheeks felt hot, her whole body began to shiver.  
  


"Every time I fall in love with you," he started, letting his finger walk along her cheekbones and jaw, his thumb pushing tenderly against her chin so she'd release her lip, "I make a memory."

He still looked at her with an intensity she'd only ever seen reserved for her once and for a different reason and she could feel him loving her, feel it consuming her and flowing through her blood like life.  
  


Ten years was too long to be without love and they weren't going to waste another minute.

_______________________  
  
_Memory: Hospital: maternity ward. Everyone is yelling and Summer is crying and then... A baby boy. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Two beautiful dark eyes. One nose. A little smile. He falls in love for the first time. The doctor places the baby in his arms and Summer looks at him and their son and smiles. He falls in love again.  
  
  
  
Memory: Hospital: maternity ward, the fourth of July. Fireworks outside the window. Summer holds a baby in each arm. Two girls, identical. He looks at them, their chubby faces, tufts of hair that looks like it will curl and touches their soft skin. He falls in love, twice, equally. Blue and reds light the room and Summer's eyes meet his. She smiles, tired. He falls in love again._  
  
  
_______________________

They are older now, fifty years older and have aged well. She, still small, does not appear frail in her diminished weight, rather, she abounds with the same energy and enthusiasm as she did in her youth and if at times she moves slower and takes a moment for a breath, it does not deflect from her radiant beauty that has yet to fade. He, though still proud and tall, slouches when he walks, holding her hand in his, his spine curving a little more than it should, but still full of joy and laughter and wit.   
  


Fifty years together, three children and five grandchildren are the product of their union and sometimes they look back and wonder where the time has gone. It crept up on them when they weren't looking and in fifty years it seems odd to have lived without regrets, but that is their gift to each other: to say what is on their minds and not hold back the truth, even if, sometimes, that truth hurt.   
  


He is seventy-seven this month and she seventy-six. The ten years apart--harsh, cruel years that they'd both like to forget or reclaim and live again, differently, together--were no one's fault; the timing wasn't right, their lives were too separate for their souls to catch up, but they did...eventually.

She never pulls back her hand or pretends he is not her love when they are together as she had so recklessly in their youth. It had hurt him so profoundly-though, he never said as much-that she had never quite been able to ever forgive herself for that infraction, and when she brings it up, his eyes get distant and he kisses her hand right between her thumb and index finger and doesn't say a word and she is content for another day that he forgives her. They talk of it no more.

They walk the gardens in the mornings, smelling fresh air and the breeze coming off the ocean; it's salty and warm and sticks to their faces heating them through. In the evenings, they sit together under a blanket and the black sky and talk about their past and the future. The children worry the house is too much responsibility, but they won't give it up, they won't go anywhere they can't be together. There are places for people of their age, places to socialize and meet new people, but they resist, all they ever needed was each other and their age hasn't changed that.   
  


The stars are bright, the air is a little bit cool and the wind howls in the distance. It was a nice anniversary, quiet. The kids came by earlier and gave them presents and cut them slices of cherry cake and they measured how much the grandchildren had grown and Seth teased the younger ones about shrinking and that he was sure they would be able to fit in a shoe box the next time they visited, Summer had watched on, laughing, and then they waved goodbye under the afternoon sun, left to themselves, and savoured the rest of the day in each other's company, the way they liked it best.   
  


Seth takes Summer's hand, kisses it and asks, "What are you thinking?"  
  


Summer turns, her eyes meeting his. She smiles. "I'm just saving this memory," she answers and it's his turn to smile. She watches him watching her and they fall in love again.   
  


Over the years he's lost track of just how many times he's fallen in love with her-how many times they've fallen in love with each other-but he knows that at least once a day she gives him this smile that makes him fall for her again and even deeper than he thought was possible and he knows for the rest of their lives they will fall in love everyday and even after they die and they no longer own these bodies, they will find each other in the hereafter and she will smile and he will fall in love all over again.  
  
________

* * *

end. 


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